To Kill a Mocking Bird

To Kill A Mockingbird - Jem Is it possible to lose innocence without losing hope? In the book To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, a 10-year-old boy named Jem proves that it just may be so. Throughout the novel, Jem, the brother of Scout, is trying to understand in his own mind the darker aspects of human nature. Within the small Southern town he lives in, Jem battles with racism, justice, bravery. It is not until the end of the novel does Jem better understand the world, and is one step closer to becoming a grown man. One of the incidences of the novel in which Jem reacts to racism is with Mrs. Dubose's white azaleas. The white azaleas can be interpreted as representing racism on behalf of the whites, hence the color. Jem attacks the azaleas, hinting that metaphorically, he is in combat against racism. Mrs. Dubose, being racist, is a prime figure of one with a closed mind, in which Jem is also against "Thought you could kill my Snow-on-the-Mountain, did you? Well Jessie says the top's growing back out. Next time you'll know how to do it right, won't you? You'll pull it up by the root's, won't you?" (110, Mrs. Dubose) Although he did ruin the azaleas, he was made to grow them back. This shows that racism can not be changed with rash actions, that it is much more deep rooted. Jem, in this incident and previously, was still naïve. Whenever Scout questions Jem on the issue of racism, he becomes moody, which is partially the result of his trying to understand the controversial issue. Later on, he starts to become more aware of how people act, and that their views are much different from his own. Justice, by definition, means fairness. In the case of Tom Robinson, whom Jem's father (Atticus) is defending, fairness is a boon that is not to be granted. Jem is devastated after realizing that justice does not always prevail. After Jem sees Tom be destroyed completely inequitably, he begins to question the ways of humanity. "...If there's just one kind of folks, why can't...

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...﻿Bianca Garcia
Summer Reading Assignment
English 1 MYP
Period 2
To Kill a Mockingbird
By: Harper Lee
1. The novel is set in a neighborhood in Maycomb County, about twenty miles east of Finch’s Landing; a homestead on the banks of the Alabama River during the 1930’s.The author used this particular location because of the jurisdictional customs that the county comes with, which plays an important role in outcome of the Tom Robinson case. Atticus mentions in the book that rape is a capital offense in the state of Alabama, which is why Tom Robinson would be sent to the electric chair if he lost his appeal. If the author had chosen a different state for the novel to take place, this may have changed Tom Robinson’s punishment for the crime he was accused of.
This is also part of the reason that this story could not have been written in a different setting, along with the fact that the time period in which this story takes place cannot be altered either. This was a time of racial segregation and if the author claimed that these events occurred in modern day, it wouldn’t send the same message to readers. The author chose this particular neighborhood because of the Radley House, which was necessary to the plot of this story.
This particular setting made the book more exciting in the scene where Jem and Scout rolled the tire into the Radley house. If the Finches didn’t live in a location near the Radley house and Boo Radley wasn’t part of the story, then...

...item, as their own property that they could do whatever they wanted to with them. Blacks have been treated like filth in our society for hundreds and hundreds of years. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee, prejudice is depicted throughout the novel, it was present in our society when Martin Luther King Jr. marched down the streets of D.C. for equality, and prejudice still exist in our nation today against gays and lesbians.
In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird prejudice is illustrated throughout the book. During the trial against Tom Robinson, Atticus Finch concluded in his defense testimony that Mayella Ewell was not raped by Tom Robinson but that “She did something that in our society is unspeakable: she kissed a black man” (Lee 272). This depicts how profound and disturbing people thought it was for black man to be with a white women or vise versa. In todays society interracial couples are generally accepted by most of the public and people, but imagine if there was a couple, a black man and a white women, and they loved each other very much back in the early 1900’s. That black man would be chased after by a mob and possibly lynched. The white women would be shunned by the entire town or city that she lived in. Not only was prejudice depicted throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, but prejudice was also present in our society when Martin Luther King Jr. marched down the streets of D.C. for equality....

...quest to save their lives, and that is what he did.
This is an example of the Initiation in the novel. The children become adolescents throughout the novel, growing up and being able to see from different points of view. “Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was enough.” This is an example of how she soon realizes she can now see in other people’s perspectives.
This is the Death and Rebirth situational archetype because as an innocent man he did not deserve to die. Just as a quote in the novel states “Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy... but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." Tom Robinson was nothing but a good man with a good family and true values, just as a mockingbird.
This is The Battle between Good and Evil. The trial was against Tom Robinson raping the daughter of Bob Ewell and Atticus Finch was defending Tom. Even though Ewell clearly knew that it was a false statement, he was still risking getting an innocent man killed just for the benefit of him winning the trial. He knew it was going to be easy because Tom Robinson is black. He is an example of evil and Atticus of good, defending the innocent man, and not worrying if people judged him for defending a black man. "It was times like these when I thought my father, who hated guns and had never been to any wars,...

...The Defender
"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb into his skin and walk around in it" (Lee 30). Atticus Finch says these words to his daughter, Scout, after he elucidates to her why it is important to not be quick to judge a book by its cover . In Harper Lee's To Kill A MockingBird, the main conflicts are centered around prejudice. In the tiny town of Maycomb, everybody is set on tradition and there is no room for oddity. Atticus Finch breaks down the walls that everybody else builds up about first and lasting impressions, slowly but surely. Atticus Finch is a discreet example of practicing equality because he espouses the outcasts of Maycomb.
When Atticus sees that Scout, Jem, and Dill are mocking Boo Radley, the mysterious neighbor who nobody knows about except for the urban legends they hear from Miss Stephanie Crawford, the town gossip, he puts his foot down and reprimands the children to quit their connived games. While ordering the kids to quit bullying Boo, Jem argues, "We weren't makin' fun of him, we weren't laughin' at him, we were just--" ... "No," said Atticus, "putting life's history on display for the edification of the neighborhood" (39). When no one else is on Boo Radley's side, Atticus is, because he knows in his heart that it is wrong to make fun of someone, especially someone that they do not know. "What Mr. Radley did might...

...Ciara Ross
Mrs. Rasnic
AP English Language
11 September 2012
Essay of Analysis: To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
It takes a courageous man like Harper Lee’s character, Atticus Finch, to defend a negro in this time period. Despite the innocence of Tom Robinson, a hard working man accused of attacking a white woman, he will never fully receive the justice he deserves all due to the color of his skin. Although the trial of Tom Robinson was unethical and unjust, the arguments that Atticus presents to the prosecutors were very persuasive. Harper Lee, the author, uses many different styles of writing like imagery and also makes use of the rhetorical triangle.
Atticus Finch brings many convincing points to the table in his case. One of which he argues that the disability of Tom would not allow him to have left the bruises and marks on Ms. Mayella Ewell as she is claiming. Another logical argument stressed by Atticus to try and convince the jury that Tom is innocent proposed that Ms. Mayella had ,in fact, tempted Tom herself. If this suggestion was true she would be disgraced and shunned by not only her neighbors of Maycomb county, but also Robert Ewell her father. Both points that were brought to the jury attention are extremely important because the first one is physical evidence that Tom is certainly innocent. The second argument points out the possibility that Mayella could be lying to try and cover up a “mistake” she made or to try and make peace with...

...﻿Graded Assignment
Journal Part 1: To Kill a Mockingbird
The questions in this assignment cover readings in Lessons 1–7 of the To Kill a Mockingbird unit (Chapters 1–13 of the text). You may answer each question as you are prompted to do so, or you may want to wait until after Lesson 7 to answer them. Keep the questions in mind as you work on Lessons 2–7.
You will need to turn in this assignment after you complete all of your work in Lesson 7 of this unit. As always, be sure to submit this assignment to your teacher by the due date for full credit.
(10 points)
1. Dill lies about his father—and many other things. What is probably his motivation? What does Dill add to the children’s lives?
Answer:
Dill lies about his father and the rest of the family because he doesn't want anyone to know that he is not treated as well by his family as Atticus treats his children. He wants to be thought of as a "normal" child. Although he is not abused, he's ignored by his family and left to his own devices. Because of this, he's seen almost every horror movie and delights in telling the details to others. He adds imagination, color, and, at times, drama to Scout and Jem's lives. He is the one who often begins much of the mischief the children get into. He dares Jem to approach the Radley house and makes up the "Boo Radley" game. He even runs away one from his own house and is found under Scout's bed.In "To Kill a Mockingbird", Dill's antics...

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Innocent to Experience: Jem’s Courage Definition
To Kill a Mockingbird
Courage cannot be defined with simple words but rather by an individual’s actions. Despite many different definitions courage is someone’s internal fortitude to do something that may frighten others. In To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Jem’s definition of courage changes from the beginning to the end of the book. At the beginning of the book Jem’s definition of courage is from an innocent perspective and by the end of the book Jem has an experienced definition of courage. Jem learns the real definition of courage from it being demonstrated in his everyday life in Macomb.
At the beginning of Harper Lee’s ,To Kill a Mockingbird Jem shows a naïve, innocent view of courage because of his fears. Dill dears Jem to touch the Radley house, which has always been one of his worst fears. Jem displays courage by touching the Radley’s and hides his angst when reporting back to Dill and Scout. Jem dreads touching the Radley house only because of his scary childlike imagination. Lee writes,“Jem threw open the gate and sped to the side of the house, slapped it with is palm and ran back past us”(118). Jem’s courage comes into play when he is told to do something he terrifies by his peers. Jem continues to demonstrate an innocent perspective of courage in the early part of the novel.
Jem...

...testifies that on the evening in question he was coming out of the woods with a load of kindling when he heard his daughter yelling. When he reached the house, he looked in the window and saw Tom Robinson raping her. Robinson fled, and Ewell went into the house, saw that his daughter was all right, and ran for the sheriff. Atticus’s cross-examination is brief: he asks Mr. Ewell why no doctor was called (it was too expensive and there was no need), and then has the witness write his name. Bob Ewell, the jury sees, is left-handed—and a left-handed man would be more likely to leave bruises on the right side of a girl’s face.
Analysis: Chapters 16–17
The trial is the most gripping, and in some ways the most important, dramatic sequence in To Kill a Mockingbird; the testimony and deliberations cover about five chapters with almost no digression. (Additionally, the courtroom scene, with Atticus picking apart the Ewells as the whole town watches, is the most cinematic portion of the narrative, and it is the centerpiece of the 1962film version of the novel.) Though the trial targets Tom Robinson, in another sense it is Maycomb that is on trial, and while Atticus eventually loses the court case, he successfully reveals the injustice of a stratified society that confines blacks to the “colored balcony” and allows the word of a despicable, ignorant man like Bob Ewell to prevail without question over the word of a man who happens to be black. In the trial conducted in...